Labor Department Says Maryland Added 11,500 Jobs In February

BALTIMORE (AP) — Labor market analysts say Maryland added 11,500 jobs in February, although the state's unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent.

The Baltimore Sun reports that last month's job gains powered the strongest three-month surge of job creation in Maryland since the Great Recession.

The gains, reported Friday by the U.S. Labor Department, pulled more than 14,000 people into the labor force, as people started working or looking for work. The Labor Department also revised its figures for January to a gain of 13,200, nearly double the previous estimate.

Since February 2016, Maryland firms have added about 57,800 jobs, increasing payrolls by about 2.1 percent, the fastest year-over-year growth since 2011.